If the SEC trend is correct, Tennessee football should bounce back against Florida and other picks

If Tennessee football fans want to feel better about their team’s loss last week to Arkansas, all they have to do is check how other SEC teams fared nationally after their first loss.

Texas A&M has won five straight games since its opening game loss to Notre Dame.

LSU has won four straight games since its opening game loss to Southern California.

Ole Miss beat South Carolina after being upset by Kentucky the previous week.

Georgia rebounded from its loss to Alabama by defeating Auburn 31-13.

Oklahoma overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Auburn 27-21 the week after its loss to Tennessee.

Tennessee 30, Florida 14: The Gators are making progress — but not enough to beat Tennessee or save coach Billy Napier’s job.

Kentucky 30, Vanderbilt 17: The Commodores pulled off the two biggest upsets of the season last week.

The first surprise: Vanderbilt beat Alabama. The second surprise: Vanderbilt had enough fans to tear down the goal posts.

Don’t expect another surprise in Lexington, Kentucky. The Commodores will likely save their best for something bigger, such as when No. 1 Texas visits Nashville on Oct. 26.

Ole Miss 41, LSU 38: The Tigers and Rebels won’t be able to match last season’s offensive performance, but they could still have the most entertaining game of the day.

Last season, both teams combined for 104 points and 1,343 yards in Ole Miss’ 55-49 win. Both defenses should be on their toes again and both quarterbacks should remain in the running for the Heisman Trophy.

Ole Miss’ Jaxon Dart ranks third nationally in passing yards per game (350). LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier is fifth (330.4).

Georgia 44, Mississippi State 10: The visiting Bulldogs should be a welcome sight in Athens, Georgia, and not just because both programs have an affinity for Bulldogs.

In four games against FBS teams, Georgia has averaged 28 points – more than 10 fewer points per game than last season. Look for Mississippi State to give you a quick pick-me-up.

Mississippi State is ranked 121st^st nationally in yards allowed per game (438.0) and 109^Th in goal defense (31.6 points per game).

Alabama 37, South Carolina 14: First-year Tide coach Kalen DeBoer has now experienced the extreme highs and lows that can make life in the SEC so uncertain. The week after defeating then-No. 1 Georgia, Alabama became the first No. 1 team to lose to Vanderbilt.

Maybe that makes him feel better: His predecessor, Nick Saban, lost his last four regular-season games in his first season at Alabama (2007), including one against Louisiana-Monroe. The Tide then won 13 straight.

Texas 30, Oklahoma 15: Since both teams had two weeks to prepare for the rivalry formerly known as the Red River Shootout, I wonder how the Longhorns used the extra time.

I suspect the Texas offense spent two weeks preparing for the Sooners’ defense. And the Texas defense took a week off and practiced the other week for the Oct. 19 game against Georgia.

Missouri 38, UMass 10: The Tigers gave up just 48 points in their first four games. Last week they gave up 41 points in a 31-point loss to Texas A&M.

ADAMS: I was surprised at how the Tennessee football loss unfolded. Even more amazed at what happened

I don’t know what’s more embarrassing – getting run over by the Aggies or scheduling a road game against UMass. Missouri has been in the conference long enough to know that SEC teams don’t play away games in Amherst, Massachusetts.

If you are interested, you can purchase a ticket for as little as $17.

Record: 54-13 (.803), 34-21 (.618) against the spread.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He can be reached at 865-342-6284 or [email protected]. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on the Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football: Why I expect Vols to bounce back, other SEC picks